ANo?uiR;mrM  |       Administration  of Castor  Oil  487 
for  introduction  into  practice. — Journ.  de  Pharm.  et  de  Chim.,  1873, 
May,  348,  319. 
Pills  of  Oil  of  Turpentine. — Lachambre  has  modified  Dannecy's 
formula,  and  operates  as  follows  :  20  grams  of  white  wax  are  fused 
together  with  8  grams  rectified  oil  of  turpentine ;  the  mixture  is 
poured  into  a  mortar,  and  after  cooling  mixed  with  9  grams  of  pow- 
dered sugar :  the  mass  is  now  divided  into  pills,  weighing  25  centi- 
grams, each  of  which  contains  5  centigrams  (f  grain)  of  oil  of  tur- 
pentine. The  addition  of  2  drops  of  oil  of  lemon  improves  the  odor. 
The  pills  are  rolled  in  powdered  starch  and  preserved  in  well-stop- 
pered vials. — Ibid.,  Sept.,  224. 
ON  THE  ADMINISTRATION  OP  CASTOR  OIL. 
By  E.  Gregory. 
Castor  Oil  is  indisputably  nauseous  and  unpleasant  to  take,  so 
much  so  that  some  patients  cannot  be  induced  to  swallow  it,  by  any 
device  or  on  any  consideration.  At  the  same  time  its  qualities  are 
such  that  in  some  disturbed  states  of  the  system  no  other  purgative 
can  be  substituted  with  safety.  On  this  account  a  great  deal  of 
ingenuity  has  been  exercised  in  endeavoring  to  devise  means  by 
which  the  dose  may  be  swallowed  without  tasting  it.  So  far  as  I 
know,  success  in  this  attempt  has  been  only  partial,  and  I  fear  the 
difficulties  in  the  way  are  too  great  to  be  entirely  overcome.  Efforts 
seem  to  have  been  made  in  three  directions  :  first,  to  enclose  the  oil 
in  a  tasteless  envelope,  such  as  the  hard  and  soft  castor  oil  capsules. 
To  these  there  seem  to  be  two  objections.  One,  from  the  number  of 
capsules  necessary  to  be  taken  for  a  purgative  dose  :  the  other  from 
the  fact  that  most  of  the  makers,  in  their  efforts  to  reduce  the  size 
of  the  dose,  have  been  tempted  to  add  a  foreign  ingredient,  such  as 
podophyllin,  or  croton  oil,  both  of  which  are  of  so  drastic  a  nature  as 
to  make  it  unwise  to  give  them  to  a  delicate  patient.  The  second 
class  of  efforts  have  been  made  principally  by  medical  men  and 
nurses,  and  have  consisted  in  floating  the  oil  on  some  vehicle,  such  as 
tea,  coffee,  punch,  wine,  beer,  etc.,  etc.  The  result  is  that  the  patient, 
in  spite  of  the  most  careful  management,  finds  some  of  the  oil  stick- 
ing to  his  mouth,  and  sinks  back  in  the  bed  with  the  conviction  im- 
pressed on  his  mind  that  oil  is  abominable  stuff.  The  most  successful 
vehicle  of  this  kind  that  has  come  under  my  observation  is  flax-seed 
